Classified Information Nets a Coach

Want a job coaching a premier high school tennis team? Check the local listings.

Westlake, the defending Marmonte League champion, is ranked seventh in Division I by the Southern Section. But Alan Hopkins left the program after last season because of a conflict with a new job.

So the school ran a classified advertisement in a local newspaper. Grant Calkins, 54, answered the want ad and got the job. But Calkins is no stranger to the Warriors. He served as a volunteer coach in the mid-1980s when his daughter, Sandi Calkins, played singles.

How does Calkins feel about suddenly coaching a top-10 team?

“As a neophyte coach, I don’t know,” he said. “But I think we should be ranked higher.”

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If you like pitching, keep on eye on the Marmonte League. Assuming pitchers improve with experience, the league should have plenty of good ones. Ten pitchers who threw 37 innings or more last year are back.

They are Camarillo’s Matt Buttell; Newbury Park’s Keith Smith and Ray Clinton; Royal’s David Vicari and Maki Kramer; Simi Valley’s Bill Scheffels; Thousand Oaks’ Tim Baron and Brian Downing; and Westlake’s Chris Flanagan and Todd Singleton.

Among other notable returnees who pitch less frequently is Westlake’s Scott Morris, who threw 13 2/3 innings and will play shortstop for the Warriors. Morris had a 1.57 earned-run average in 35 2/3 innings of American Legion baseball over the summer.

Simi Valley’s Nathan Celusta didn’t pitch much last season because of Scheffels, Trevor Leppard and Bill Treadway, but he threw a no-hitter for the junior varsity two years ago and has an overpowering fastball, Coach Mike Scyphers said.

Channel Islands’ Todd River threw only 15 innings at the end of the season, but he was 3-0 and had an 0.93 ERA.

Some new members of the club might be Camarillo juniors Ryan Bourget and Roth Valencia, who could be the Scorpions’ top two starters in their first seasons on the varsity. Thousand Oaks sophomore Micah Weathers, who dominated freshman ball and was promoted to the junior varsity in midseason, pitched six shutout innings Saturday in his varsity debut.

Of all the above, only Downing and Weathers are left-handed.

WEST VALLEY LEAGUE

The Power of the Press

Stop the presses.

The Reseda baseball team was forced to forfeit its March 2 victory over Grant in the L.A. Invitational for using pitcher Jorge Macias, who hadn’t received medical clearance from the school nurse.

The next day the school’s athletic director, Norman Weiler, discovered that Macias played.

“I saw his name in the box score in the sports section,” he said.

Weiler reported the violation and the Regents forfeited. Macias, a junior, has since received medical clearance and is eligible.

*

Chatsworth, the top-ranked team in The Times’ preseason area poll, started slowly, losing two of its first five games and winning two others by one run.

But Chancellor pitcher/outfielder Ray Daryabigi has been red hot. After five games, the junior led Chatsworth’s regulars with a .444 average. He had a 2-0 pitching record with a 0.95 ERA.

His twin brother, Rod, also started strongly with three hits in six at-bats.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Minor Records

Canyon guard Greg Minor set several school records this season. His 22.9-point scoring average was the highest in school history, and his 619 points broke the single-season mark of 533 set by Greg Paskowitz, a 1987 Canyon graduate who became an NAIA All-American at Hawaii Hilo.

Minor’s 1,138 career points eclipses the mark of 1,018 set by Jermaine Nixon, a 1991 graduate. Minor’s 69 three-point baskets this season and 139 in his career are also records.

But the best statistic on Minor for Coach Greg Hayes is this: He’s a junior.

FRONTIER LEAGUE

Damian’s Destination

Santa Clara swingman Damian Cantrell outshined Duke recruit Ricky Price of Serra and outshot Andre Miller of Verbum Dei, who will attend Long Beach or Utah State. The 6-4 Cantrell twice scored 37 points in playoff games and led the Saints to the Southern California Regional semifinals.

So where is he going to college? Santa Clara Coach Lou Cvijanovich had been closed-mouthed about the future of his prized senior, who averaged 22 points and nine rebounds.

On Monday, however, Cvijanovich said that only two Division II schools have contacted him: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Riverside.

But Cvijanovich said that might change with Cantrell’s next Scholastic Aptitude Test score. Cantrell said will he take the test Saturday.

“That’s the reason why more schools haven’t called about him,” Cvijanovich said. “He needs 25 more points.”

MID-VALLEY LEAGUE

Not Another Injury

In the span of three days, three starters on the Birmingham baseball team were injured, joining ace right-hander Steve Brown, who suffered a preseason back injury and has yet to play.

Against San Fernando, first baseman Don Wingo collided with catcher Jimmy Uline on a popup in foul territory and sustained a concussion. Wingo, also the Braves’ No. 2 pitcher, is expected back later this week.

Second baseman Danny Arnold sustained a broken nose at practice Wednesday when he attempted to field a bad-hop ground ball, but is expected to return by next week’s league opener. And left fielder Carlos Petino sustained torn ligaments in his ankle trying to beat out an infield hit against Granada Hills and is expected to miss at least a week.

“I’m optimistic,” said Coach Rick Weber, laughing at the onslaught of injuries. “We’re gonna be fine.”

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Just Add Confidence

Crescenta Valley basketball Coach John Goffredo looks at senior Richard O’Neill differently than his other players.

“I feel like I just created Richard,” a smiling Goffredo said of his 23-points-a-game point guard. “I’ve never felt that way about any other player. I felt like I believed in him when no one else thought he was good.

“I brought him up to JV when no one thought he was good and I brought him up to varsity as a junior and everyone said, ‘What are you bringing this guy up for?’ ” I think I gave him the confidence and the green light to do what he’s done.”

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The Falcons’ trip to the Southern Section Division I-AA championship game this season was like a journey into the past. Several players from the 1970-1971 team, the last Crescenta Valley squad to advance to a section final, flew into Los Angeles for the game.

Goffredo arranged for Bob Trowbridge and Bill Boyd, the starting forwards in 1971, to speak to this season’s team the day before the game against Long Beach Poly.

The 1971 team, unlike the 1994 version, went into the championship game undefeated. This season, the Falcons entered the final 19-9 and needed an at-large bid just to make the playoffs.

One similarity: Both lost.

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Crescenta Valley sophomore guard Jake Willis finished the season with 185 assists (6.1 per game), the fifth-best total in school history.

MISSION LEAGUE

Twice the Benefit

Alemany swimming Coach Walt Cannon took the Northridge earthquake and worked it to his advantage.

Because damage to the Mission Hills campus was so extensive, Alemany runs a split-session school day. As a result, Cannon runs two practices a day: freshmen and sophomores early in the morning and upperclassmen at midday.

For most sports, not having an entire team together would be a hindrance, but because swimming is a more individual sport, two practices means twice as much attention to the athletes.

“It’s a natural break because of the maturity levels,” Cannon said. “We teach strokes more to the younger swimmers, and just work on refining the (older swimmers). It just means I practically live at the pool.”

The team, which has struggled for several years, already has defeated Bishop Amat and Notre Dame in dual meets.

Around the Leagues. . . .

* Chaminade pitcher Joel Orme has given up only one run in 18 innings. Catcher Adam Crecion is nine for 15 with 10 runs.

* St. Francis pitcher Paul Diaz, a 6-foot, 150-pound sophomore, was promoted to the varsity Thursday and won his first game Saturday, a 3-1 victory over San Marcos. He struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings.

* In the final two innings against Granada Hills last week, four Birmingham pitchers combined on 13 walks. Prior to that, the Braves’ pitching staff had walked only four batters in 19 innings.

* Alemany’s Gloria Dominguez and Tammy Alcantar are batting .462 and lead the Indians’ softball team that features six starters batting better than .300.

* Valley Alternative volleyball player John Hemenover, a 6-9 senior, set school records Monday for career digs (293) and games played (125).

* The Birmingham volleyball team, which missed the City Section playoffs last season for the first time in 10 years, has won its first four matches.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Irene Garcia, Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Paige A. Leech contributed to this notebook.

Their Best Shots

Delores Tuimoloau of Channel Islands High set a region record of 46 feet 11 1/2 inches in the shotput in Saturday’s Ventura Relays at Ventura High. Following is a list of the region’s top 10 performers:

Mark Individual (School) Yr 46-11 1/2 Delores Tuimoloau (Channel Isl.) ’94 46-0 1/2 Lorraine Constanzo (Saugus) ’81 45-11 1/2 Kerry Zwart (Crescenta Valley) ’78 45-11 1/2 Crystal Brownlee (Westlake) ’93 45-9 1/2 Nada Kawar* (Crescenta Valley) ’92 45-7 Tracy Wilson (Taft) ’88 45-2 1/2 Wendy Bradshaw (Saugus) ’82 44-11 1/4 Angie Arrington (Palmdale) ’90 44-5 1/2 Jenny Whelchel (Agoura) ’88 42-2 3/4 Erin McConahey (Van Nuys) ’89

*--Junior. All others are seniors.

Basketball Top 10

Final rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

Rk LW Team League W-L 1 3 Palmdale Golden 24-4 2 NR Crescenta Valley Pacific 19-11 3 4 Harvard-Westlake Mission 24-3 4 1 Hart Foothill 21-2 5 2 North Hollywood East Valley 17-6 6 5 Reseda North Valley 18-2 7 NR Santa Clara Frontier 20-9 8 6 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 21-7 9 8 Canyon Foothill 20-7 10 NR Campbell Hall Delphic 24-9